Big Apple’s Littlest Bites Shorts Program

Short films made between 1961 and 2023 highlight the rich diversity of people, communities, neighborhoods, joys and challenges that inform growing up in New York City

Join us for a Q&A with directors DeeDee Halleck, Peri Muldofsky, Zainab Floyd, and Amanda Gomez, one of the subjects of Black Girl, following the screening.

-

Children Make Movies (1961)
Dir. DeeDee Halleck
9min

This document of a workshop held at the Lillian Wald Recreation Rooms and Settlement shows two filmmaking projects by youth. This film was shown at a UNESCO conference in 1962 in Oslo, Norway, and was commended for being the "most spontaneous" and "drawing the most applause" by the celebrated filmmaker Jonas Mekas in a Village Voice review. Halleck is a media activist, founder of Paper Tiger Television, and co-founder of Deep Dish Television.

Bedford-Stuyvesant Youth In Action (1965)
6min

Shot by an unknown cinematographer, this silent color short captures scenes from an event held by the community outreach organization Bedford Stuyvesant Youth In Action, Inc. around 1965. The remarkable film includes footage of the Brooklyn Junior Olympics, Brooklyn parades and dances, a Christmas party, and appearances by Jacqueline Kennedy and U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Pearl Bowser.

Aspirations (1971)
Dir. Peri Muldofsky
6min

A girl imagines herself falling in love, but also the perceived consequences of a heteronormative relationship, in a 1971 short film made by Peri Muldofsky for Film Club. Aspirations is an example of a widespread movement promoting community filmmaking from the late 50s to early 70s, and Muldofsky went on to pursue a successful career as a television producer.

Mott to Mulberry (1992)
Dir. Herman Lew
30min

A lighthearted but narrative short about a second-generation Chinese-American teenager named Conrad, living in New York City's Chinatown. Conrad's attraction to a local Italian girl clashes with the cultural forces of his family, as well as with the urban environment of his neighborhood. This is a story about life, love, and learning how to dance.

An Education in Equality (2013)
Dirs. Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson
11min

Over the course of 13 years, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson (Going to Mars: the Nikki Giovanni Project) filmed the progress of their son, Idris Brewster, through Dalton, one of Manhattan's elite prep schools, for this short film, as well as for their feature, American Promise. For an African-American family in a predominantly white school, the years were challenging for everyone.

Wood Hood (2023)
Dir. Alex Cullen
16min

Wood Hood features DeVaughn, a 15-year-old kid from New York City who loves skateboarding and craves a "quiet place" to escape the chaos of his home, the city, and kids that steal from him. The film follows DeVaughn on a weekend-long group camping trip with @campingtoconnect, a BIPOC-led mentorship program that teaches leadership, brotherhood, and inclusion in the outdoors, and urges us to recognize the power and potential of a world where nature is accessible and inclusive for all.

Black Girl (2016)
Dir. Zainab Floyd
8min

Black Girl, filmed over the course of a summer in Harlem, follows the dreams and hopes of a group of NYC young adults interested in pursuing careers in the arts. Inspired by the Nina Simone song “Young, Gifted and Black,” this is Zainab Floyd’s first film, crafted when she was a student in the afterschool program, Expanding the Walls, at the Studio Museum in Harlem.